Henk W. Volberda

Bio: Henk W. Volberda is an academic researcher from University of Amsterdam. The author has contributed to research in topics: Competitive advantage & Absorptive capacity. The author has an hindex of 71, co-authored 274 publications receiving 29582 citations. Previous affiliations of Henk W. Volberda include VU University Amsterdam & Tilburg University.

How Knowledge Accumulation changed the Competitive Advantage of Strategy Consulting Firms

Abstract: textResearch evidence confirms that the accumulation of knowledge contributes to the competitive advantage of firms. In the strategy consulting industry, one of the most knowledge-intensive professional services industries, however, established firms that exploited their knowledge accumulation by adding exploitative consulting practices have found their performance has deteriorated. To investigate this phenomenon, this paper will describe how the increasing share of exploitative practices in the strategy consulting industry has attracted both established ICT-related consulting firms and new entrants, and enabled clients to expand their problem-solving abilities. We will argue that these developments in terms of competitiveness and client competencies have reduced the attractiveness of exploitative practices for established strategy consulting firms. To analyse these developments and to provide strategic options for the established strategy consulting firms, a conceptual framework will be proposed. Based on this framework, three strategic option are identified: ‘Follow the herd’, ‘Become ambidextrous’ and ‘Back to the original focus.’ In summarizing our argument, we highlight the pros and cons of these options and the implications for top management.

Strategic Renewal in Large Multiunit Firms: Four Dynamic Mechanisms

Abstract: An organization needs specific capabilities to develop competencies, but at the same time remaining open for expanded search. These paradoxical requirements imply that there are balances to be struck if capabilities and resources are to remain vital. How do firms then maintain, yet renew or replace their distinctive competencies? Notwithstanding the managerial relevance of this provocative question, most of the research endeavours in strategic management are rooted in stability, not change. There has been relatively little focus on the specifics of how multiunit firms first develop firm-specific competencies and how they renew them to shifts in the industry. This paper proposes a dynamic approach to understanding and investigating the managerial capabilities and organizational resources that are likely to enable a firm to renew, augment, and adapt its core competence over time. We identify four mechanisms which help describe the complex paths of evolution and adaptation of firm-level distinctive competencies to resolve the paradox of stability and renewal. These are labelled: selection, hierarchy, time, and network. We show how they are embedded in the ideas of population ecology, organizational economics, administrative theory, corporate entrepreneurship, innovation theories and interorganizational relations. By reference to previous studies, we suggest that survival requires usage of at least one, and often more, of these mechanisms. Descriptors: strategic renewal, organizational change, core competencies, capabilities

Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance: The role of the senior team.

Abstract: Prior studies argue that entrepreneurial orientation plays an important role in explaining firm performance. Our study investigates how senior team attributes moderate the relationship between entr...

Dormant Capabilities, Complex Organizations, and Renewal

Abstract: This chapter uses case studies carried out over significant time periods to explore the process of competence building capable of supporting major change in large, complex, diversified organizations. Analysis of multiple units, multiple levels, and historic patterns within four firms showed that change and renewal in large corporations is possible and that managers often have considerable- though sometimes unrecognized- latitude for choice. This chapter introduces the concept of dormant capabilities that are available to business managers to regenerate old competences, to build new ones, and to overcome existing core rigidities. Temporally dormant capabilities are the result of organizational competences that were created previously but were rejected or 'retired' by the organization at some time in the past. The concept of organizationally separated capabilities that can be 'imported' (at least in part) from other units in a large firm is also considered. This chapter explains the concepts of core competences, core rigidities, and organizational change in complex organizations.

Absorptive Capacity: A Review, Reconceptualization, and Extension

Abstract: Researchers have used the absorptive capacity construct to explain various organizational phenomena. In this article we review the literature to identify key dimensions of absorptive capacity and offer a reconceptualization of this construct. Building upon the dynamic capabilities view of the firm, we distinguish between a firm's potential and realized capacity. We then advance a model outlining the conditions when the firm's potential and realized capacities can differentially influence the creation and sustenance of its competitive advantage.

Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration

Abstract: Unstable market conditions caused by innovation and increasing intensity and diversity of competition have resulted in organizational capabilities rather than served markets becoming the primary basis upon which firms establish their long-term strategies. If the strategically most important resource of the firm is knowledge, and if knowledge resides in specialized form among individual organizational members, then the essence of organizational capability is the integration of individuals' specialized knowledge. This paper develops a knowledge-based theory of organizational capability and draws upon research into competitive dynamics, the resource-based view of the firm, organizational capabilities, and organizational learning. Central to the theory is analysis of the mechanisms through which knowledge is integrated within firms in order to create capability. The theory is used to explore firms' potential for establishing competitive advantage in dynamic market settings, including the role of firm networks...

Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders.

Abstract: A role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders proposes that perceived incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles leads to 2 forms of prejudice: (a) perceiving women less favorably than men as potential occupants of leadership roles and (b) evaluating behavior that fulfills the prescriptions of a leader role less favorably when it is enacted by a woman. One consequence is that attitudes are less positive toward female than male leaders and potential leaders. Other consequences are that it is more difficult for women to become leaders and to achieve success in leadership roles. Evidence from varied research paradigms substantiates that these consequences occur, especially in situations that heighten perceptions of incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles.

Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation

Abstract: The paper is concerned with spatial clustering of economic activity and its relation to the spatiality of knowledge creation in interactive learning processes. It questions the view that tacit knowledge transfer is confined to local milieus whereas codified knowledge may roam the globe almost frictionlessly. The paper highlights the conditions under which both tacit and codified knowledge can be exchanged locally and globally. A distinction is made between, on the one hand, the learning processes taking place among actors embedded in a community by just being there dubbed buzz and, on the other, the knowledge attained by investing in building channels of communication called pipelines to selected providers located outside the local milieu. It is argued that the co-existence of high levels of buzz and many pipelines may provide firms located in outward-looking and lively clusters with a string of particular advantages not available to outsiders. Finally, some policy implications, stemming from this argumen...